Slaves of Legacy
by Lore55
Summary: He was her salvation, her savior. He brought her her freedom, and she would do anything to make sure he kept his. Ace x OC
1. Thief in the Night

**Here we go again! New story time!**

* * *

It was their last heist before they left for the Grand Line, which meant that it needed to be big. It needed to be huge and the pay off had to be massive so they could get their foothold in the world. It needed to have gold and silver and more danger than anything they had ever done before.

It needed to be nobles, and it just so happened that the ones in this city were hosting a family of dragons.

"This is a bad idea," Deuce told him bluntly, staring up at the massive palace. It towered over them, lit in the dim light of dusk by burning torches and lamps along the turrets. The white stone glowed gold, and even from down here he could see the guards walking atop the walls. The nobles moved in the windows, a party lighting up the entirety of one wing in more lights than the whole of the city that the palace looked over. How much money was just sitting up there, wasted on people who didn't appreciate a thing they had?

"I know," Ace promised, clapping his first mate's shoulder. He tossed him a blithe smile and jogged towards the back gate. Mihar was supposed to have already secured it for them, and true to the plan when they got there he was standing on one side, with Ducky on the other. The pair waved him through.

Ace took the path that wound through rose gardens at a brisk jog. The actual path was lit with lamps and patrolled by palace guards, so he hopped the prickly bushes and ducked under the flowering orange blossoms. The April air was damp, but not cold this close to the equator.

It was only a few minutes to the servants door, shut against the wall. If he didn't know what he was looking for he would have missed the outline of a latch in the stone wall. Thank the Sea's for Leonaro's inexplicable collection of blue prints.

Ace brushed his fingers along the rock before he pushed against a brick. There the sound of a spring warbling before the door swung open before him. Ace jumped in, moving to knock out whoever was inside the tunnel.

He found it empty. Well lit, but void of anyone inside.

He took a left, like Leonaro said to, up a long flight of stairs. The steps curve into darkness ahead, but that was no problem for someone who could light his own hand on fire. Which was, coincidentally, what he did.

He passed one landing, then two, then three before he came to a stop at the fourth. Or was he supposed to go in at the fifth? Or, was it the third floor? Crap. Saber, Barry and Kukai were waiting for him on one of those!

Ace hit his head against the door, groaning loudly. Son of a bitch.

The door opened with the force of his skull. Ace took it as a sign and walked into pitch black.

He lifted his flaming hand and added power, lighting up the room steadily. Satin chairs surrounded a table with a pink silk cloth, oil paintings hung on the walls depicting a family of red haired, green eyed nobles in high collared clothes. Ace couldn't help wondering if the frames were real gold or just painted.

They were too bulky for him to take with him, so he moved on, out of the room and into a hallway.

How many people did this family have for all these portraits? And marble busts!

A smell wafted through the air, roasting boar, drawing him down the hallways. His stomach growled loudly, all but forcing him to push open the door. Light spilled out of a kitchen that was almost entirely deserted. There was only one person inside, a girl.

She looked up when he opened the door, her mouth stuffed like a squirrel. Sauce took the place of lipstick. Actually, she didn't look like a party goer at all. Her dress was bland yellow and her hair was stuffed inside a bandana.

She swallowed, made a face, and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Um," she said.

"Hello," he nodded at her. "Sorry to interrupt."

"It's okay. I haven't seen you here before. Are you, visiting or crashing?" While she spoke she grabbed rolls and lathered them in butter.

"Crashing," he didn't see a reason to lie. "I'm a pirate."

She laughed. "Yeah, and I'm a Celestial Dragon," she drawled, and shoved a roll into her mouth.

"I am," he pouted at her before he jabbed his chest with his thumb. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates!"

"Spade… pirates. Ace. Oh my god, that's amazing," a grin spread broadly over her face. "Like an Ace of Spades! I love that!"

Ace puffed up, warming with pride. "We're going to the Grand Line," he told her.

"Then you're going to need food, right? Here," she chucked a roll at his face. He caught it in his mouth and she laughed again. "And money, I bet. I can show you where the good stuff is."

"I'm a pirate, but what are you?" he asked, instead of accepting right off. Most people didn't just offer to help pirates steal from world nobles.

"I _told you_ I'm a Celestial Dragon," she huffed at him. "Or are you calling me a liar?"

"I would never," he waved his hands as if to placate her. "Sorry, Miss, what was your name?"

"Sylph, hi," she waved. "So. Mr. Pirate. Want some treasure?"

Ace tipped his hat to her, grinning. "Lead the way, Miss Sylph."

She abandoned the food and raced to the door, passing him with enough speed to ruffle his bangs. He grabbed his hat, watching her go with surprise. She probably wasn't supposed to be here either, if she was moving that fast.

He chased down the hall on her heels, taking a right so hard he almost hit the wall when she vanished around the corner. Behind him he heard a couple of palace guards muttering, just a few seconds after he left their sights. Sylph knew what she was doing.

She lead him into a bedroom with silk sheets and a mirror the size of a door. The room was bigger than his ship, with a ceiling to high up even trees would fall short. The wallpaper had gold flowers on it. _Real_ gold.

"Here," Sylph pulled a drawer open, revealing gleaming jewels and shimmering metals. Ace picked up one with a hair thin chain, looking at the ruby that gleamed in the light. There was a stone smaller than his pinky nail in this drawer, and when he opened another one he found a gem the size of his fist. Ace pulled out the bag he'd brought with him and started shoving in as much as he could manage.

"Why are you helping me?" Ace asked, though he didn't stop collecting the loot. Sylph was even trying on a few rings. She glanced at him, blue eyes clear as the sea.

"Because I want to. Because I'm a liar and I think this is fun."

"You sound like a pirate!" Ace claimed, flashing her a smile.

Sylph laughed.

"Do I? I'd be a terrible pirate. I can't do anything I'd need to!"

"You have to be able to do something!"

She shrugged, careless. "Maybe. I can't fight to save my life, I don't know the first thing about sailing, and I get tired if I run for more than a few minutes at a time."

"You found all this," he pointed out, slinging the bag over his bag.

"Yeah, but anyone could have," she shrugged. She didn't seem to actually care that she had said she would be a useless pirate. Well she wasn't a pirate, so it didn't' matter.

Ace looked around, checking the windows and the door before he pulled out his tiny den den mushi. Sylph leaned in when she saw it, her eyes growing wide.

"It's so little!" she breathed. "I want to die."

"You- what?" he stared at her, bewildered.

"It's so little, it makes me want to die from how cute it is," she elaborated. "I love it."

That was weird. Ace brought the sail back up to his face and told his crew, "It's time to go. Grab anything you can carry and meet up at the _Card Shark_."

"The _Card Shark_ ," Sylph repeated. "Is that your ship?"

Ace puffed with pride.

"Best ship in the East Blue!" he declared.

Sylph laughed at him. "Well, wish the best ship in the East Blue my best. And her crew."

"Where are you going now?" Ace asked. He was curious. She was a curious person.

"Me? Oh, I don't know. Wherever Father has us travel next. We've been island hopping since September," she confided. "I think he's looking to find me a noble stepmother."

"Sounds fancy."

"Sounds terrible."

Ace snickered at her expense, even if it was a bit rude.

"I'll see you around," he said, and turned to leave Sylph alone. She seemed to have everything handled here.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "Maybe you will."


	2. Runaways

**For anyone wondering what I'm doing starting this one, I want you all to know that this story is actually finished. I started and ended it within the span of 48 hours, courtesy of an as yet unexplained surge of inspiration.**

 **There will be 16 chapters total.**

 **Reviews!**

 **Guest666-69 : She would, wouldn't she! I love stuff like that, tbh.**

 **treavellergirl: We'll just have to see what Sylph turns out to be!**

 **204shipper: Thank you!**

 **Shion Lee: I guess we'll find out what she is, won't we?**

* * *

When Ace told Sylph he would see her again he didn't think it would be on the Grand Line. He thought it would be, if anywhere, him visiting the Blues again once he was a great pirate.

Instead he ran into her, quite literally, on Kyuka Island.

He hit the ground, right on top of her. Sylph was so light when she fell down under him and if she hadn't squeaked he wouldn't have noticed it at all. Ace lifted himself up to look down at her, and she looked back up at him. Recognition dawned.

"Ace!" she realized.

A shout came from behind him and he scrambled to his feet, dragging her up with him and then taking off in the opposite direction. He realized belatedly that he was still holding onto her, dragging the girl along like a kite.

Her feet weren't even touching the ground. Did she weigh anything?

"Where are we going?" she asked when he swung her around a corner after him. The restaurant owners seemed to have picked up an entourage.

"Away from them!" he replied. He made a right, and found them in a dead end. Sylph stumbled into his back, though he barely felt it. Her fingers twined with his.

"I think you made a wrong turn," she said, mouth curved upwards.

Ace flashed her a smile. "How do you feel about hot weather?" he asked. Sylph gave him a funny look.

"I love it, why?"

"Then, pardon me Miss Dragon," he turned and caught her under her knees, swinging her effortlessly into his arms. She yelped, and let go of his hand to grab him around the neck. Ace launched them into the sky, his legs erupting into fire. They shot up, over the building and its roof.

He landed on human legs, sliding down the tiled roof until they were dropping onto the streets below on the other side of the building. Sylph had shoved herself against him, latched on with a vice grip that he didn't think her hands were capable of.

"Are you alright?" he asked, letting her down to her feet. She looked between him, the roof, then him again before her smile grew wide, showing teeth.

"That was amazing! Can we do it again? How did you do that? Can you fly? Can you show me?" her grip around his neck vanished, but that was only because she went on to grab his hands so tight he thought they would break.

"First we need to keep going! They know this city better than I do," Ace told her.

Sylph made a face. "Let's just go to the hotel. We can sit by the water feature. Just take off your hat and shirt."

"What?" he stared at her like she was insane.

"People make their first impression on clothes. Your shirt is yellow, your hat is orange. Those things stick out a lot more than shirtless boy with black hair on vacation with a pretty girl," she flipped her hair, what little of it wasn't stuck under a bell shaped hat, over her shoulder.

"How do you know that?" he asked, but he did turn them towards the massive, towering hotel.

"I told you. I'm a liar," this time the smile she threw his way had a sharper note. Something wicked came with it. Her arm slipped into Ace's and he took off his hat.

She walked him up into the hotel, her back straight and her chin lifted. Ace tried to do the same, and found that she was, indeed, a Liar. With a capital L.

The hotel was grandiose, filled with tourists and elaborate tiles on the floor. THe walls were painted and one was made entirely of a glass waterfall. Past the lobby was not only a pool, which was stupid with how close they were to the ocean, but a courtyard. Complete with green bushes, purple flowers, and a water fountain in the middle of it all.

It was a naked baby spitting water next to gaggle of swans.

"Is that the 'water feature'?" he asked, staring at it. It was truly hideous.

"Yep," she confirmed, towing him to one of the benches that surrounded the thing. "Now. You lit on fire."

"Oh, that!" Ace extracted his arm so he could hold both of his hands in front of him. "It's a Devil Fruit," he told her, lighting his fingertips into flames too small to be seen by passersby. "The Mera Mera no mi. I"m a fire man," he told her.

"Devil fruit," recognition gleams in her eyes and the girl touches, not the flaming points of his fingers, but the back of his palms underneath. Her hands are warm. "Portgas D. Ace, a man with a fire fist."

Ace is, honestly, delighted.

"You got it!"

She smiles at him, and he can see a flash of something in her eyes, blue as the seas.

"Did your dad ever find you a stepmom?" he asks, and the smiles dies. He feels like he's just kicked someone's dog, just seen a solar eclipse and watched all light die from the world of her smile.

When the hell did he become a poet?

"Did he find one that's wicked?" he asked, trying to lighten the damage he had done.

"Worse," Sylph tells him. She lays her fingers in his palms and he kills the fires before she gets burnt. There's silver on her finger. "He found me a husband."

Ace can only stare.

"He, found you a husband?" he repeats, the thought so foreign he doesn't know where in his brain to put it.

"Well," she amends, "a fiance. A noble one, of good birth with a large fortune and diplomatic immunity in three Blues," she rattled off. Her face scrunched up, like she'd just bitten into something rotten.

Ace looked at her, his head tilted. "If you don't like him, why don't you leave? You're not a slave, right?"

"Well, I'm not in chains, no," she agreed, but she was drawing the words out. "Even still, what else would I do? Father only has me to continue the family Legacy."

 _The family Legacy._ The words echoed in his head, garbling with ones he had heard years before. About a pirate king, about a son who didn't deserve to be alive.

"Fuck that," he spat the words at the ground.

"Ace?" Sylph was looking at him funny, her head ducked to look at his face. He worked his jaw, trying to calm down.

"Why should your family have a say in what you do with your life? Why should your parents decide what kind of a person you are, or what you can be? It's not right!"

"That's- I don't know. That's the way the world works, I guess," she shook her head, sending her hair flying around her shoulders. "In the end, we're nothing more than slaves to our families legacy's."

Ace looked up at her, his eyes brightly burning.

"Then why don't we change the world?"


	3. Third Times the Charm

When Sylph turned him away that day he thought it might be the last time he saw her.

He should have known better. The world didn't work that way. Third time's the charm, as they say.

"I thought brides were supposed to be happy, giggling, blushing girls."

Sylph jumped about a foot in the air and spun around towards Ace. Her hair was styled up in a curl above her head and the long thing at the end of her dress looked like it was going to trip anyone who tried to sneak up behind her. Though it probably wasn't a security measure.

The lace covering her chest was studded with actual diamonds, and probably worth more than most people made in their life times. She had come a long way from stuffing her mouth in a kitchen when no one else was looking.

Ace swung his leg back and forth and grinned at her lazily from where he was sitting on the balcony railing, his back propped up on the wall. He waved a hand holding an apple at her. Honestly, he hadn't planned on visiting her again, but when he heard about the big noble wedding that was going on in town he just had to see what was going on.

Who knew he would find Sylph, looking ready to rip apart her own wedding dress. The woman attending her promptly opened her mouth to scream, before Ace flung the apple at her and stuffed her mouth.

"Ace!" Sylph was clutching at her chest, upsetting the thousands of miniscule jems. They rippled across her body like a wave of glitter.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" he wasn't actually that worried, but he didn't want to be rude, now did he?

"Of course not," Sylph's face melted into a smile and she flipped her fingers at the woman attending her, like a good little noble girl. "Tori, finish that apple and wait for me outside. Don't mention our guest to anyone."

'Tori', a young girl too skinny for her dress or her health, bobbed a nod and scurried off, crunching into the apple. Ace's stomach grumbled. He should have eaten it himself. Whoops. Well, there was a tree right next to the balcony, so he just reached over for another, ignoring the five story drop.

"Already giving orders? Should I be calling you 'princess' now?" he teased.

Sylph's sniffed at him, turning up her nose.

"I already told you what I am, you should be calling me 'Saint'."

Ace laughed, carefree. "Sorry, pirates don't care much about titles."

Sylph shook her head at him and walked over, dragging her massive dress along with her. Ace was only a little bit surprised when she hugged him. He patted her back, ran his fingers over the fine jewels. If she sold this she could buy passage anywhere in the world. So why was she still here?

"I missed you," she told his shoulder. It was bare these days, him not wearing a shirt anymore and all.

"Really?" he looked at the wall and the elaborate tapestry that lay over it. He didn't really know what to do with all of this. Ace didn't have that much experience with girls, except the ones on his crew.

"Yeah. I didn't know if I would see you again before they locked me up in a gold cage," she pulled back to offer him a smile. It was not sharp or shining. It was weak and it shook on her mouth.

"How come you're going so willingly?" he prodded, literally, poking into her side.

Sylph jumped, jerking away from him. She pouted at him, crossing her arms.

"Well what else would I do? My life is to marry rich, live with wealth and die."

"Says who?" Ace challenged.

"Says everyone," Sylph crossed her arms and levelled him an annoyed glower. After a beat she showed him her tongue. And the bar sticking through it. Ace was startled into snickering.

"Did you have that last time I saw you?"

"I may have done a couple of uh, rebellious things," her eyes finally lit up with mischief. Ace flashed his teeth at her and leaned forwards, until they were practically nose to nose. Not the best manners, but he didn't think that Sylph would mind.

"Like what?"

The soon to be noblewoman lifted up the hem of her long dress and stuck a leg out. She was wearing some kind of knife attached to her shoe, elevating it, but that wasn't what Ace was focused on. There was a snake wrapped around her ankle, swallowing its tail right above the bone. Instead of drawn on eyes there was a bright blue gem stuck straight into her skin.

"Cute," he nodded. A snake was suitable, for a girl who was a liar.

"Isn't it? Do you have any tattoos besides the one on your arm?" she poked his tricep, right one the X. Ace totally didn't flex when she did.

"Nope. No yet. I'll probably get more once I've gotten more famous."

"You're plenty famous. I saw your wanted poster. Who would have thought I was helping a future-famous-pirate steal from World Nobles?" she joked. She looked better like this. A little less tense, a little less stress. Her skin, once tanned, had paled and was now covered in powders and paints. She looked like a doll, not like the serving girl throwing him a bread roll for the road.

"You know my offer still stands. You could run off and become a 'famous pirate' yourself. "

Sylph hesitated. She was always doing that, except when she helped him steal that first time.

"I don't think I could change the world," she told him. She started wringing her perfectly white skirt between her fingers.

"You won't know if you don't try." He crunched into another apple. Looked at her. He hadn't intended on finding her here, but he'd heard about the wedding at a bar in town and he just couldn't stop himself from coming to see her. From trying one last time.

Maybe it was because he was a nice person. Maybe it was because of the way her words resonated within him, echoing through a scarred heart. He wanted to free her.

"I'm not- I'm not strong. I'm-"

"Useless, I know. Who cares? Learn how to be useful. Fight and become strong." He said it plainly, like it was obvious. Which, for him, it was.

"And if I can't become strong. If I'm a sucky pirate?" she prompted. Something in her eyes had changed.

Ace started to smile wider.

"Then you'll go overboard, probably."

Sylph laughed, her body rippling with diamonds.

"It sounds like and adventure."


	4. By Firelight

Of all the islands in Paradise, Ace was pretty sure that Cabetta was the most boring. It didn't have much of anything on it. There was one town, then a bunch of old ruins, and some monsters in the forest that were barely worth the title people bestowed upon them.

This was the first place that Ace and his crew arrived with Sylph.

Her fancy sundress was long gone, now she was running around in a borrowed pair of his own cargo shorts and one of Cornelia's flower patterned shirts. Her hair swung around her back in a tail, for once missing a hat or anything else to cover it. Sylph looked like a whole different person. Even her face was different.

There was no make up, and her sunglasses were on top of her head, leaving her wide eyes there for all to see. Ace was only a little surprised when she physically launched herself off of the ship and down into the water, wading to shore. Her eyes were so bright when she saw the _Card Shark_ he was surprised she was willing to leave it at all.

From the second Sylph had stepped foot on the ship she had looked like a girl in love. She had a million questions and was running around like a little kid.

Ace idly considered putting a leash on her before she tripped someone.

And now, watching her run up onto the sand, straight for potential danger, he considered the option again before dismissing it. She was having fun. She was free, her gold ring chucked far into the sea.

He wouldn't take that from her.

He wouldn't let anyone take that from her.

* * *

Sylph looked beautiful in the firelight. The shadows that danced across her face highlighted the spark the filled her eyes. The warm glow flashed across her teeth when she laughed and the sparks floated around her head in a halo of orange and red.

Ace offered her his marshmallow when her own fell right into the campfire the crew was huddled around.

They were the only two who weren't drinking, everyone else loud with the celebration of a new day of piracy and a new crewmate first real fight. True, Sylph hadn't done much other than shoot down a couple of petty bounty hunters, but it was worth drinking to. For the people who weren't made a fire, at least.

Alcohol and Ace didn't really mix these days, and Sylph was a little bit picky about what she drank. Only the fruitiest, girliest drinks would do, and they sure didn't have any of those on the beach.

"That brother you're always talking about, Lucky, did you and he ever fight?"

The question surprised him. They had been talking about tides before.

"Luffy," he corrected mildly. "And yeah, we fought all the time when we were younger. I tried to kill him a couple of times."

He pushed another log into the fire.

"Why?"

"I was just wandering," Sylph shrugged her slim shoulders. "Kukai and Kimel are brothers and I haven't' seen a day where they don't fight yet."

"Ah, yeah. That's definitely a brother thing. Maybe a sibling thing. Don't you have any?" Thinking about it, Ace realized all he knew what that her father wanted her to marry rich. He'd never asked about her mother, or her brothers and sisters. He only knew Sylph.

"No," she shook her head. "They tried after me, but nothing worked. Mom died when I was a kid and Dad never got any other daughters or sons. That's why he was so set on me marrying well. So we could continue on the family legacy."

Ace scoffed.

"Nobles aren't worth the trouble they put you through," he dismissed. A funny look over came Sylph's face, like she was trying not to laugh at him. "Most, at least."

"You knew one who wasn't?" she turned towards him, her knee bumping into her. Ace looked towards the stars in the sky above them, tipping the brim of his hat. His smile became bittersweet.

"Yeah. My other brother, Sabo."

"You haven't mentioned another brother," Sylph's voice was quiet in the night. Still, it was all he heard. Even the roaring laughter seemed to have died, until it was just the two of them, the stars, and the campfire.

"He died when I was still a kid. When we were all just kids. Saint Jalmack shot him."

Sylph sucked in a sharp breath. Ace glanced at her to see the girl's wide eyes, her stiffened spine and her paled cheeks. He tossed her a smile.

"It's okay. It's good to talk about him now and again. Lu never liked to, but I don't mind. It hurt, but in a good way."

"A good way to hurt… Tell me about him? Please?"

Ace shifted a bit and leaned forwards, until his shoulder was against her and their faces weren't all that far apart at all. He tossed a smile her way.

"I'll tell you about when we first got Luffy, and tried to figure out which one of us was going to kill him."

Sylph stared at him incredulously. "I can't tell if you're joking or not.

Ace just laughed at her.


	5. Loyalty

When the rest of the crew obeyed and ran, Sylph stayed right where she was. Stubborn, stupid, and weak. She wasn't a fighter. She ran from danger or hid behind his first mate. She floated away from threats like a bird. She wasn't a fighter. She should have gone with them.

But she stayed with him.

His hands shook. Blood soaked the ground under him. Everything hurt. His energy was gone, his injuries were deep. He'd fought the fishman for five days straight, and now he'd spent half of the sixth fighting one of the strongest men in the world.

The man who rivaled _him_.

He could kill Sylph with the flick of a wrist.

"I told you to run," Ace hissed the words at her, glaring up from under his brows. He struggled to find the strength to lift his head. She was singed around the edges. From his fire net, no doubt, and the massive flames he'd thrown around at Whitebeard.

"Captains go down with their ships, I'll go down with my captain," she said flatly. He could see her shaking. The whites around her eyes were visible even from the ground. At some point she had picked up his hand and was threatening to destroy the brim with her white knuckled grip.

Ace forced his hands flat on the ground and bit back and groan when his bones protested. Everything hurt. He managed to get his knee underneath him. He coudln't let her get herself killed doing something like this. He couldn't let her die because he wasn't strong enough to take down Whitebeard. He was the captain, he was her friend, he had to protect her. The rest had already run. They were safe. But Sylph-

"Are you still trying to fight?" Whitebeard sounded curious. Not malicious. Would he strike down a woman if she challenged him? Word was he didn't let women fight on his ship. (Sylph had already labelled him a 'sexist douche canoe', to the amusement of Masked Deuce) Did the thought carry over to him refusing to fight women period? No one had ever said.

"Captain," Sylph sounded terrified. She should have run, dammit.

"I don't want you kids to die here."

Ace's head snapped up towards the old man. Sylph's hand curled around his arm. He might as well have been using the wind as a crutch for all the good it did,

"If you still want to fight," Whitebeard went on, lowering himself to one knee, "Then take my name and roam the seas wild and free. Become my children!"

Ace could only stare at the massive hand, the size of his own body, that was held out to him. He looked between fingers bigger than his whole arm to Sylph, pale as a ghost in the moonlight and thin as a waith.

He didn't really have a choice here. Not when his crewmate was at risk.

Ace could only accept.


	6. Heritage

"Have you considered going in while he's asleep?" Sylph asked, passing him a roll from the basket balanced on her hip. Thatch, a Division Commander and the king of the kitchen, had taken to sending her running around with snacks. She always brought them to Ace first.

Today the rolls were dark brown, with oats on top. He could taste some kind of nut in it.

They were also amazing. Ace didn't think he would ever get over how good Thatch was at cooking. He had never met anyone as good as he was. And, he had no qualms feeding Ace as much as he could eat. Thatch was probably the one good thing about this place.

"Yes," Ace huffed before shoving the bread in his mouth. Sylph smiled at him, a soft curl of the mouth that lighten her eyes and flushed her cheeks.

"Did you ever think we'd end up here?" She turned her face into the wind that blew across the deck of the massive ship. It was a calm, lazy day in the New World, things that were few and far between. Most people were taking advantage of it. Drinking, playing games, or taking a nap.

"What, veritable captives to the strongest man on earth?" Ace snorted. Sylph cringed from him and he sighed. He was being rude to her, and she hadn't done anything to deserve it. It wasn't Sylph he was upset with.

"Maybe if I stop lying, he'll let us go. Or just kill us."

Her musings certainly caught his attention. He levelled her with a frown.

"What are you talking about?

Sylphs smile slipped away. Wind pulled her hair back, snapping to suddenly Ace almost lost his hat.

"If you knew who my father is, you wouldn't want me on your crew. I doubt he would either."

Ace felt something in his throat constrict. He managed to speak around it.

"If you knew who my father was, you wouldn't want me as a captain."

Sylph glanced at him, something far away and so terribly, deeply sad that Ace felt himself go cold. An ocean of sorrow swelled in her eyes, where no tears spilled. It threatened to drown him for the instant it took for the girl to turn away.

"I know exactly who you are, golden boy."

Ace stiffened, his breath caught in his throat.

"And I will follow you until the end of the earth. "


	7. Inheritance

Ace swung back and forth in his hammock, staring up at the ceiling. Sylph was sitting a chair in the room, her legs on either side of the back of it. Ace's hat was perched on her head and her face was twisted, her lips making a ducks bill and her eyes crossing.

Ace snorted at the expression.

"Come on," Sylph reached over and shoved him, sending him swinging harder. "What's got you do down? I've never seen you like this."

"It's just- Well I know that I could never kill Oyaji, but the World Government has better assassins than me. And Bounty hunters would love to cash in on the bounty on his head. Now that I'm with him- None of them are supposed to know who I am, I mean who's son I'm not, that might make things worse. He's a Yonko, and he's got the blood of the pirate king on his crew."

"If they're coming after anyone," Sylph said after a moment, "It will be you. And your brother, and your grandpa too."

Ace's head snapped towards her. She had removed his hat and sobered, a far off look to her.

"What do you mean Gramps? He's a Vice Admiral, they'd never attack him. He hates pirates!"

Her voice was so soft he strained to hear it.

"The pirates, the yonko, none of that matters. None of them are the true enemy of the World Government. The real enemy of the world government is the ancient kingdom, and all its descendants. Descendants like you," she looked right at him, pale eyes shooting into his soul. A shiver slid through him, ice in his fiery veins.

"Me?" he said dumbly.

"You," she nodded. "Inheritors of the name of D. Descendants and heirs to the ancient kingdom, whose very blood unlocks the power of _Uranus_."

"Uranus," the word tasted like poison rolling around inside his mouth. It shivered down his spine. Ace blew out a jet of fire, trying in vain to warm himself.

"How do you know this?" Ace touched her slim shoulders, fingertips barely brushing the pale blue shirt. Sylph looked down, towards his hat.

"You need to be careful. They'll be gunning for anyone with that middle initial soon, now that Crocodile is in Alabasta, Pluton is at risk. Poseidon will always be in danger as long as humans continue to enslave fishmen, but with the Whitebeard Pirates protecting Fishman Island they'll have a tough time getting to it."

"How do you know all this," Ace repeated.

Sylph stood and pushed his hat onto his head. "I'm going to go see if Thatch needs help."

"It's the middle of the night. Sylph, come on," he tried to catch her hand before she left but she was already gone, vanished out the door and into the night.

Ace watched her go, frowning deeply.

His blood was the key to an ancient weapon of indescribable power? And Luffy's too? Did that mean that both of his parents had that power too? And Garp as well? How many D's were in the world? And what was the initial for?

Most importantly, how did Sylph know about all of this?

Ace rolled over on his hammock, holding his hat to his stomach. There were so many questions plaguing his mind he didn't think he would get to sleep. For once.

The man sighed, closing his eyes and trying not to stew. He could ask he more tomorrow.

That's what he thought, until he heard an ear splitting scream from the kitchens.


	8. The Hunt

Sylph had always seemed so small to him. She was light as a feather as weak as a person came. Her only strength was her accuracy with a pistol.

Now, she looked like she would shatter into dust if he touched her.

She was so pale, lying in the bed in the sickbay. Bandages covered the entirety of her torso, and both of her hands. He could still remember the blood pooling out of her body, onto the kitchen floor. It mixed with Thatch's in an awful puddle that spread out to the corners. Laying next to them was a swirly patterned fruit with a bite missing from it.

Teach hadn't been seen since.

Just thinking about him made Ace's blood boil.

He had almost killed Sylph, almost killed Thatch, all while he was one of Ace's subordinates. He couldn't, wouldn't, let that stand.

Whitebeard didn't want him to do it. He thought it was too dangerous, with Teach having a new devil fruit that they didn't know anything about.

Ace grit his teeth together and forced himself to look at Sylph, whose jaw was locked tight even in her unconscious state. She still hadn't woken up, even after a week.

If she died-

He couldn't bring himself to complete the thought. He stood up, towering above the pale wraith of a girl before he swept out of the room with the power of a storm. An inferno burned in his stomach, vengeance turned his mouth into a gargoyles grimace.

No one stopped him when made for Striker.

* * *

He found Teach, going by Blackbeard now, on an island near Water 7.

He had a crew now, only a handful of people following him. Five men and horse. Ace knew from experience that numbers didn't mean much on the grand line. One of them, the one with the musket, was a bit too trigger happy. The shot he fire at Ace's head when they noticed him sitting on top of a house went right through. He and the rest payed for it.

Teach stood up after his attack, brushing ashe off his shoulder. He was still smiling. Ace wanted to rip the smile right off of his face.

"Hey now, is this about your little girl? I wouldn't have had to gut her if she didn't get in my way," Teach waved his hand at Ace. Fury boiled over his throat in the form of a hiss that slid between his teeth. He released a handful of glowing green spheres that darted towards Teach, exploding on contact with his enemy. He wanted to burn him down to the bones.

He was going to leave Teach as nothing more than a pile of ash.

His hand moved before he even thought of it, catching the dart aimed at his neck.

Ace scoffed, folding it between his fingers. The sniper's mouth was open with shock. If he thought that would work, Teach had really lowered his standard for his crew.

Ace crushed the capsule, lighting it on fire without a second thought.

He never expected it to explode. He never expected the sweet smoke it released. He never expected the the sudden wave of vertigo that brought him to his knees.

Darkness swept over him, echoing with Teach's laughter.


	9. The War

He never wanted to see someone die for him. He never wanted to watch his friends, his family, be struck down while he was bound helpless.

But that was what was going to happen. The sea had frozen over, from his high perch chained down he could see, above the walls, the army that his father had brought for him. Foremost was a giant he knew all too well.

Little Oars jr. pushed his was through the Marine's, slicing down with his sword and punching out with his left fist. No one could stand in his way. The cannons blasted at him, their ammunition no more damaging than the wind. Even the giants the Marine's sent towards him were batted away with incredible ease, dwarfed by the towering pirate.

For an instant, just an instant, hope flickered to life in Ace's chest.

Then, Kuma shot him through his stomach. Blood sprayed out, raining across the Marine's below. It stained the pure white uniforms a horrible red. Ace's stomach rolled when Oars pressed on, the only sound he was making was Ace's name. Over and over, a horrible mantra that stabbed through the commander.

A shadow shot through his throat. Oars stumbled to his knees, the earth shook beneath his weight. Tears sprang to Ace's eyes.

Oars reached up and removed his hat.

Ace thought his heart was going to stop when the giant lowered it, agonizingly slowly, until it was level with platform.

A corpse stood inside of it.

It had to be a corpse. Sylph had died and now he body stood before him, long dress waving in the wind. Someone had played a joke and styled her hair up in a tight roll. She was being strung up like a puppet. By Moriah or Doflamingo.

That was the only explanation for why her eyes had lost all their light.

She stepped down, onto the platform. The world seemed to hold its breath.

She looked down at him, right through him, before her chin lifted and she glanced at the Fleet Admiral that stood to his left.

"Sengoku," her voice was flat, the edge of a razor dulled and forgotten. "Release him."

One of the grunts that stood by the stairs, a glorified key holder, took a step towards him.

"You can't tell the Fleet Admiral what to do! Who you think you ah-"

He was interrupted by a gunshot. Right in the head. Sylph lowered her smoking pistol. There wasn't a trace of remorse to her. Ace didn't recognize this girl.

"Gol D. Ace is issued a full, royal pardon," she looked right at Sengoku. "Unlock him. And do dismiss all of these worms. Their appearance offends me."

"Saint Sylphana," Sengoku lowered himself to her. "You have been gone for years. Are you certain your father still grants you that power?"

Sylphana. Saint Sylphana Jalmack. He knew the name. He'd heard the uproar when she disappeared, though he'd never cared about the details.

The girl with Sylph's face scoffed.

"My father is an infertile fool, and my mother is long dead. He would never do anything to jeopardize his legacy. Now do as I say, before I shoot you too."

Sengoku moved slowly, mechanically, but did as he was told.

Ace watched him over his shoulder, shocked when the Fleet Admiral unlocked his chains and started to move on to the cuffs. He looked back at Sylph, mouth open with a thousand questions.

"Sylph-"

"Shut up," she spat the words at him and for the first time he saw light glimmer in her eyes. Tears that were shattered by her lashes when she blinked.

"Shut up," she said again, "and die a free man."

Ace stood, slowly, when his wrists were released.

With new orders from a World Noble, one who was acknowledged and obeyed their leader, the Marine's did nothing but stare in total shock when Little Oars Jr reached over and picked up Ace, replacing Sylph's place in his hat with Ace. The giant stumbled, but got to his feet and walked back to the fleet that come for the Commander.

The last glimpse Ace got of his crewmate was her back turning, darkness trailing behind her in a cloak. Her words echoed in his head, along with the words of Dogra, ten years old.

" _You wouldn't want me on your crew if you knew who my father is."_

" _Sabo was shot down by Saint Jalmack."_

Ace screamed after her.


	10. Sylph

The first time Sylph had ever seen Portgas D Ace she was thirteen years old, and he was a cute, freckled man on a TV screen. He was cute, he was loyal, he was doomed.

The first time Sylph had ever met Portgas D Ace she was thirty four and also eighteen years old, stuffing food down her throat while she hid in the kitchen from a party held in her honor. The 'festivities' were disgusting. Slaves bound up and smacked and forced to hold positions or suffer the consequences. Degraded and bled dry.

Sylph would have loved to say that she yelled and kicked up a fuss and forced all of them to free these people in bondage, most of them unique aquatic hybrids.

Sylph was a liar, but she did not lie to herself. She hid, and when the opportunity to spite these awful creatures rose she was more than happy to see Ace run off with precious, priceless jewels that had been given to her in a vain attempt to impress a noble.

It was weird for her. And it wasn't until after he was already gone that she understood exactly who she had just encountered.

She thought it would be their last encounter.

She was wrong.

She saw him again on a vacation, ran into him _literally_ , and he showed her how to fly. Years later and she could still remember the feeling. The fear, the adrenaline, the moment where they lifted above the rooftop, floated free, launched up by jets of flame.

Gravity dragged them down all too soon, as it did all things.

He offered to take her away. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to scream at him that he should become a Marine or disappear or do anything other than be a pirate. She liked Ace. She didn't want him to die. But how was she supposed to stop it from happening? How could someone like her change the world?

So she sent him away.

Good things come in three, third time was the charm.

He arrived, a thief in the night, a knight without armor, on her balcony the night she was to marry a man as cruel as her father. He stole her away.

He set her free.

Sylph had never been out to sea like that before. She had never had to pull her weight on a ship, she knew nothing about ropes or sails or rudders or wood. She knew how to fire a gun but she couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag.

Still, he took her with him. Still, he showed her how to tie a knot and steer a ship and read the stars. He showed her how to be free.

She owed him everything. She had never been as happy as she was as a Spade Pirate, or even as one of Whitebeard's Daughters. He was still sexest, but he gave them a place to belong and for that she was grateful.

She knew Thatch was doomed. She knew Ace was doomed. She knew she should never trust Marshall D. Teach.

She didn't expect to be there the night he attacked. She didn't expect to become a part of the struggle, doing everything she could to, if not stop him, spite him and slow him down enough to give someone else time to get there. Being cut from shoulder to hip was no surprise.

She didn't expect to be alive when she woke up again.

The world was full of the unexpected. She should have known that by now.

Sylph tilted her head back, let the wind lift her hair and blow it back from her face. Salt came with it, and the rush of the ocean. Waves broke on the cliff beneath her feet, splashing up a hundred, a thousand feet.

She first loved Portgas D. Ace in firelight. When he talked to her, long into the night, about a brother he had lost and the adventures he had with the one that still remained. She hadn't kissed him then. God, she wished she had.

She loved him. That was why she would do anything to make sure that if he died, he did it free.

Even if the price of his freedom was her own.

There was no moon that night. Clouds churned in the sky, covering the stars. Darkness swallowed her.


	11. The Price of Freedom

Tori wasn't around anymore. None of them stayed around long. Sylph tried not to be afraid for them. She tried not to be attached to them. It was easier if she didn't care.

So far, she'd never been able to succeed, so when they brought her a boy, no older than thirteen, her heart went out. She wished it would stop doing that.

"What do I call you?" she asked. The boy startled from where he'd been settling her silk sheets. After years at sea, it was so soft it hurt the callouses on her skin.

"Me?" he squeaked. He couldn't have hit puberty yet.

Sylph propped her chin on her hand, pale eyes locked on the boy. She had been told, once before, that when she looked through people her eyes were like ice. That she herself became a ghost.

She wondered if that was still true, or if the devil had darkened her eyes.

"I'm asking your name, doll. It's alright," she offered him a kind smile, an idea springing to her head. She flipped her fingers at him. "Come here, little one. Don't be shy."

He walked towards her desk slowly, his muscles tight and his eyes fixed firmly on the floor. He went paler the closer he got to the young woman. He stopped at her side, his fingers twitching. Had he fidgeted before they broke him of it?

"You never answered my question," she touched his chin, using it to raise his face. They weren't supposed to look her in the eye, but Sylph liked to see them. Eyes were the window to the soul, after all.

"D-d-domeric."

"Domeric," she spoke his name softly. His skin still had traces of softness to it. He was new. Cute boy. He didn't deserve a life like the one he had. No one did.

"Do you want to be free, Domeric?"

He stopped breathing. He stared right at her eyes.

"If you want to be free, then fight me."

"What?" his voice squeaked. Then, he abruptly stumbled back from her. He was shaking. "This is a trick!"

"No, doll," Sylph stood up slowly and spread her arms out. She didn't have any weapons anymore. They had all been confiscated.

"Fight me, and I will free you. Cross my heart," she marked across her chest with her pinkie. She offered him a smile. "Come on now, Domeric. Fight for your freedom."

Domeric was shaking. She felt bad for scaring him. She should have just freed him. Her mouth opened to tell him as much when a fist connected with her cheek. It wasn't even enough to bruise, but it was enough to surprise her. Sylph looked at Domeric, eyes wider.

She could see him swallow. "I- I thought- you said."

"I did say. You're free.:"

"What?" Domeric shook his head slowly. Disbelief was clear. Sylph smiled and fetched a key from her desk.

"I told you if you fought me you would be free. I never told you you had to win. Come here, doll. Let me see your cuffs, and your neck."

Domeric obeyed. He was stiff. Sylph was careful to only touch lightly when she unlocked his wrists and the hold around his neck. The metal fell, warm in her hand. Sylph set it on the desk.

"If you don't have anyone to go back to, look for the Whitebeard Pirates. Ask for Ace," she stepped away from him. Thought for a moment before she took off her necklace, and her bracelets. They were worth more than enough to get him passage to where ever he wanted to go.

"Why are you doing this?" Domeric finally found his voice.

Sylph pushed her fine gold jewelry into his hands.

"Because I did nothing before. My legacy can go fuck itself."


	12. Salvation

**I know I said 16 chapters but I combined a couple of them to make up for how short others are. So, here we are!**

Sylph loved the sea.

She wasn't allowed to go out on it anymore, but they would let her wander along the cliffsides. The Red Line stretched all across the globe, from one pole to the other and back again. As a Celestial Dragon she had access to every inch of it. She just wasn't permitted to leave it. A prisoner, as wealthy as she was.

The closest she got to the sea was cliffs outside of her family's chateau.

She loved to stand on them, with her face turned skywards. To the stars and the moon and the clouds above. It was a glimpse of what she had lost.

"How many times have I come out here?" she asked the wind. The wind gave no answer.

"How many more times will we walk the path?" she asked her shadow. It rippled but told her nothing.

The sun burned low in the sky. Far, far off she could see a ship sailing in front of it, black sail blazing. A pirate making their way towards Reverse Mountain. She wished them luck. She wished she could go with them.

Maybe she could, if she were someone else. Maybe she could slip into the shadows and crush anyone who got in her way. Maybe she could swallow down the bitter taste of murder and rip her own freedom from her father's cold, dead hands.

Maybe if Ace was there.

"Ace…:

She sat down, her feet dangling off the cliff. If the earth gave way, she would fall all the way down into the waves that smashed against the only continent. Sylph lay back, tipping her hat up over her face and closed her eyes. The cool ocean air swept across her, bringing with it the sound of birds and the smell of the sea.

The wind changed, swirling warm across her legs. From the north, maybe?

"Excuse me, Miss Dragon, but how do you feel about warm weather?"

Sylph's heart skipped. She ripped her hat off, nearly flinging it into the sea.

Portgas D. Ace stared down at her, his own hat tipped up with a burning finger. His teeth flashed a grin down at her in the dying light of dusk. Behind him was a boy younger than they, with a scar under one eye. And a blond boy in a top hat.

Ace, Luffy, and Sabo.

Sylph scrambled to her feet, kicking rocks down into the Blue below. She stood up, dwarfed by all three of them. Her hands were shaking again.

"Ace?" she breathed his name into the night.

"Sounds like you missed me," he stepped towards her, but didn't get much further. Sylph didn't give him the chance to get closer before she flung herself at him. He caught her, lifting her off of her feet effortlessly.

Tears burned in her eyes.

"I did," she promised, clinging to him. "I missed you. What are you doing here? Are you crazy?"

"I came for my crewmate. Duh."

Sylph snorted and held on tighter. "That was rude," she accused.

"So was sending a few hundred people my way without warning," Ace finally set her back on her feet. Sylph pulled back reluctantly. She glanced over his shoulder at one, then the other brother. She smiled softly.

"So he's here? Not dead?" she asked, though she had known the answer before Ace did. Her captain drew her into his side. She was more than happy to be there.

"Yep. These are my brothers, Sabo, and Luffy," he pointed to one, then the other. Sylph smiled at them. She let go of Ace long enough to grab one hand of each.

"Hello. Ace has told me a lot about you boys. Especially the trouble maker."

"You talk more about Sabo than me?" Luffy looked at Ace, hurt. Ace smacked his arm.

"You're the troublemaker!"

Sylph laughed behind her hand. She felt lighter. Warmer. Ace was here. He had come for her. She barely believed it.

"Sorry, but, we should go," Sabo interrupted.

Sylphs heart fell. "Where are you going to?"

" _We_ ," Ace corrected, "Are going home."

"We," Sylph repeated slowly. She stared at him. "You can't be serious. I can't go with you, they'll never let you get away again. You'd be on the run for the rest of your life!"

"I already am," he shrugged, casually, his arm still around her shoulders. Sylph opened and closed her mouth before she looked to Sabo and Luffy. They were just as confident, just as guileless as their brother. It was hereditary.

"Am I still welcome with Oyaji?" she had to ask. She knew he didn't care about Ace's heritage, but there was a difference between a pirate like Roger and Noble like her father.

"Of course you are," Ace smiled down at her, utterly sure of himself. "You might be less useless now too, since you ate the devil fruit."

"Ah, Thatch told you about that huh?" she smiled sheepishly.

"You ate a devil fruit?" Luffy leaned in suddenly, right in her face. Like, two inches away. Sylph pushed further into Ace's arm.

"Well, yeah. Teach was going after it and it wouldn't work if I ate it before him. I really just wanted to piss him off…" she kicked the ground, feeling foolish. It had gotten them the time they needed, and now she was a Darkness Woman, but at the time it had been petty vengeance, and now it was a power she didn't even use. "I wasn't even trying to eat it. I just wanted to trick him and hide it in my mouth. They taste like shit."

Luffy grinned hugely. Ace started shaking with laughter. Sabo was polite enough tip his hat when he started laughing too. Sylph huffed at all three of them.

"Jerks," she accused.

"Well, we are pirates, aren't we?" Ace looked down at her again. He was so close. Just an inch away. It was almost too easy for Sylph to push up on her toes and do what she should have done years ago.

Her kiss, soft and brief as it was, was still enough to silence all of them. She pulled back, smiling lopsidedly. A fire burned in her chest, confidence and possibility.

"Yeah, we are," she said softly. Ace turned dark red and looked away, his freckles vanished from sight. Sylph laughed at him and pulled away a step, taking his hand into her own. His were rough and hard from work. Hers were soft and smooth from luxury. "Do you think we can still change the world?"

There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in him.

"Yeah. Let's go change the world."

For once, Sylph believed that they really could.

 **End.**


	13. Breaking News: There's a Sequel!

**Hey all! I know I completed this story but it was still in my head so I've published a sequel! It's called 'Legacy of Freedom', please check it out ^^ Here's a sneak peak!**

Sylph couldn't help it. With her chest swelling with joyous birds and the sun on her bare back the young woman stretched her arms out, threw her head back and laughed. Salt sprayed across the pale blue of her halter top, gathering glittering droplets in her loose hair. She turned her pale eyes to the clear sky and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"It's a great day to be alive!"


End file.
